Charles Barkley had 43 points in his second game back after
missing three games with an injury and the Houston Rockets
scored 27 straight points over the second and third quarters to
post their fifth straight win, 107-100 over the Golden State
Warriors.

The 34-year-old Barkley was 15-of-20 from the field and missed
only once in 11 chances from the line in posting his all-time
Rockets high. He added 15 rebounds to lift Houston to its
seventh consecutive win over the hapless Warriors.

"Coming off the injured list helps me because I've struggled
with my body," said Barkley, who added a season-high four
steals. "Some nights it's going to me (with the big game), some
nights it's going to other players."

Joe Smith's six-footer gave Golden State a 50-34 lead with 4:41
left in the second quarter, but the Rockets went on a remarkable
27-0 run, shutting the Warriors out until Latrell Sprewell sank
a foul shot with 7:23 left in the third period. Golden State's
first field goal in more than 10 1/2 minutes came 81 seconds
later when Bimbo Coles hit a jumper.

"It was a tremendous third quarter," Rockets coach Rudy
Tomjanovich said. "A good defense makes that type of run
happen. It was a good feeling, and the guys played well
together."

Donyell Marshall had 24 points and 17 rebounds and Sprewell
chipped in with 22 points for the Warriors, who fell to 0-5 at
home and 1-13 for the season with their fourth straight loss.

The Rockets shot 45 percent (38-of-90) and notched consecutive
road wins for the first time this season. The five-game winning
streak is Houston's longest since they posted six in a row from
March 1st-11th.

The Rockets played sluggishly over the first 17 minutes, falling
behind by 19 points on Sprewell's three-pointer with seven
minutes left in the first half. But with 4:18 remaining in the
second, Barkley touched off the nine-minute burst with an
eight-footer and proceeded to torch defender Joe Smith for 15
points during the run.

After Carlesimo switched defenders, Barkley overmatched Sprewell
on his way to falling two points shy of tying the NBA
regular-season high.

"I grew up watching Charles, and it was really exciting to see
him play so well," said Marshall. "We wasted a lot of good
minutes in the first half. Those first minutes in the second
half killed us, we put ourselves in a difficult position."

Sprewell's free throw halted the run and cut the deficit to
62-54. The Rockets then got consecutive buckets from Kevin
Willis before Coles' jumper ended the 31-1 outburst.

"When the game started out, we weren't really tearing the cover
off the ball," said Willis. "Defense set our tone tonight and
everything fell into place. We saw them lose confidence during
the run and we took advantage of that and took the momentum from
them."

Clyde Drexler had 17 points and a team-high five assists and
Willis added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Rockets, who were
outrebounded 52-39 but hit 39-of-49 from the line. Eddie
Johnson, who had a season-high 22 points in Friday's win over
Portland, continued his hot play off the bench, hitting a pair
of three-pointers to finish with 12 points